Tuesday, July 22, 2014 — DT 27433

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27433
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Monday, March 10, 2014
Setter Rufus (Roger Squires)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27433]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Miffypops
BD Rating
Difficulty - ★★	Enjoyment - ★★★
Falcon's Experience ┌────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┐ ███████████████████████████████████ └────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┘ Legend: █ - solved without assistance █ - incorrect prior to use of puzzle solving tools █ - solved with assistance from puzzle solving tools █ - solved with aid of checking letters provided by puzzle solving tools █ - solved but without fully parsing the clue █ - unsolved or incorrect prior to visiting Big Dave's Crossword Blog █ - solved with aid of checking letters provided by solutions from Big Dave's Crossword Blog █ - reviewed by Falcon for Big Dave's Crossword Blog █ - yet to be solved
Notes
The National Post has skipped DT 27432 which was published in The Daily Telegraph on Saturday, March 8, 2014.

Introduction

As usual, I enjoyed the weekly offering from Rufus.

Notes on Today's Puzzle

This commentary is intended to serve as a supplement to the review of this puzzle found at Big Dave's Crossword Blog, to which a link is provided in the table above.

Primary indications (definitions) are marked with a solid underline in the clue; subsidiary indications (be they wordplay or other) are marked with a dashed underline in all-in-one (& lit.) clues, semi-all-in-one (semi-& lit.) clues and cryptic definitions.

Across

1a   Talk with female, the lady of the house (10)

Chatelaine^[5] is a dated term for a woman in charge of a large house.

6a   Not the gardener’s favourite little number (4)

Wee^[5] is a chiefly Scottish adjective meaning little ⇒ (i) when I was just a wee bairn; (ii) the lyrics are a wee bit too sweet and sentimental. The word may be of Scottish origin but, like the Scots themselves, it has migrated around the world.

10a   Turn to celebrity for backing (5)

11a   Popular officer on the whole (2,7)

12a   Player given an awful roasting (8)

13a   Curbs straggling bushes (5)

15a   Letter contains record set by one holy man ahead of the French (7)

An EP^[5] (abbreviation for extended-play) is a record or CD that contains more than a single track (per side in the case of a record) but fewer than would be found on an LP (abbreviation for long-playing).

In French, the masculine singular form of the definite article is le^[8].

17a   Yet he still may play Shylock (7)

Shylock^[5] is a Jewish moneylender in Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice, who lends money to Antonio but demands in return a pound of Antonio’s own flesh should the debt not be repaid on time. The term Shylock has come to mean a moneylender who charges extremely high rates of interest.

Exact^[10] means to force or compel (payment or performance) or to extort ⇒ to exact tribute.

Thus Shylock could well be described as an exactor, someone who exacts a high rate of return from those who borrow money from him. Split (2-5), the solution would be (as Miffypops puts it) a "former thespian" — perhaps one who comes out of retirement to take on the role of Shylock.

19a   Foreign money invested in source of sugar and spice (7)

The yen^[5] (abbreviation Y^[5])  is the basic monetary unit of Japan.

21a   Eastern market may supply mongoose (7)

The meerkat^[5] is a small southern African mongoose, especially the suricate.

22a   Describing a boom in the travel industry (5)

24a   Lady-killer? (8)

Not someone who kills ladies (even figuratively in a romantic sense), but a lady who kills.

27a   A client I’d made perfectly agreeable (9)

Agreeable^[5] (followed by to or with) means in keeping or consistent ⇒ salaries agreeable with current trends.

In his review, Miffypops expresses some uncertainly about the definition. As I see it, the term "agreeable" would seem to connote the possibility of some degree of variation between two things which are being compared. However, if they were "perfectly agreeable", there would be no variation, and they would be identical.

28a   A fifty to one chance to be this inspired hermit (5)

I didn't fully comprehend the subtlety in the definition until I read skempie's comment on Big Dave's blog. As he points out, the word "inspired" is a verb rather than an adjective. We must read the definition as "[The] chance to be this [is what] inspired [the] hermit" where the pronoun "this" refers to the solution to the clue.

29a   Born on the first of December in poverty (4)

30a   One on his way to work a complete change? (5,5)

In his review, Miffypops refers to Charles Kingsley (1819–1875), English novelist and clergyman who is remembered for his historical novel Westward Ho! (1855) and for his classic children’s story The Water-Babies (1863). The protagonist of the latter work is Tom, a young chimney sweep.

Down

1d   It’s not the original ape (4)

Although Miffypops did not mark it as such, I would say that this is a double definition.

2d   Setback — very sad to get upset about it (9)

3d   Run in next race (5)

In cricket, an extra^[5] is a run scored other than from a hit with the bat, credited to the batting side rather than to a batsman.

4d   What I am when one has one over the eight? (7)

Have one over the eight^[5] is an informal British expression meaning to have one drink too many. [probably from the assumption that the average person can drink eight pints of beer without getting drunk].

5d   The shift that is seen after dark (7)

A shift^[5] (also shift dress) is a woman’s straight unwaisted dress.

One could well consider the entire clue to be the definition.

7d   Go astray or slip (5)

As the definition, "slip" is actually a noun rather than a verb.

8d   Purposeful muse (10)

9d   Anxious when visiting America? (2,1,5)

In his review, Miffypops states "Wherever you were in the USA you would be in one of these".  Well, not quite, you might be in the District of Columbia^[5].

14d   This section produces bangs, possibly supersonic (10)

16d   Yet it can provide firmness of purpose (8)

18d   Observes and steals money (5,4)

Contrary to Miffypops (who categorises this clue as a double definition), I would consider it to be a charade with the wordplay being TAKES (steals) + NOTE (money).

20d   Correct code used by a student (7)

An ethic^[5] is a set of moral principles, especially ones relating to or affirming a specified group, field, or form of conduct ⇒ the puritan ethic was being replaced by the hedonist ethic.

The cryptic crossword convention of L meaning learner or student arises from the L-plate^[7], a square plate bearing a sans-serif letter L, for learner, which must be affixed to the front and back of a vehicle in various countries (including the UK) if its driver is a learner under instruction. 

21d   Off-colour article following piece in paper (7)

Off colour^[5] is a British term meaning slightly unwell ⇒ I’m feeling a bit off colour. Of course, in the UK it also means (as it does here) slightly indecent or obscene ⇒ off-colour jokes.

23d   Relative energy required to go through French city (5)

Nice^[5] is a resort city on the French Riviera, near the border with Italy; population 348,721 (2007).

25d   Gathers in spare jumble (5)

26d   Detain in a safe place (4)

The keep^[5] is the strongest or central tower of a castle, acting as a final refuge.

Key to Reference Sources: 

^[1]   - The Chambers Dictionary, 11th Edition
^[2]   - Search Chambers - (Chambers 21st Century Dictionary)
^[3]   - TheFreeDictionary.com (American Heritage Dictionary)
^[4]   - TheFreeDictionary.com (Collins English Dictionary)
^[5]   - Oxford Dictionaries (Oxford Dictionary of English)
^[6]   - Oxford Dictionaries (Oxford American Dictionary)
^[7]   - Wikipedia
^[8]   - Reverso Online Dictionary (Collins French-English Dictionary)
^[9]   - Infoplease (Random House Unabridged Dictionary)
^[10] - CollinsDictionary.com (Collins English Dictionary)
^[11] - TheFreeDictionary.com (Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary)

Signing off for today — Falcon